


struck by lightning

by mrmurdocks



Series: dollar city [1]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: (sort of), Cabeswater - Freeform, Getting Together, Holding Hands, M/M, Magic, dollar stores, the trees ship it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-07 23:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12243069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrmurdocks/pseuds/mrmurdocks
Summary: “Cabeswater needs something,” Ronan said, scanning the aisles.“From here?”“I think so.”“I thought you said it was in your dream.”“Yeah, but not exactly. It’s not like the trees gave me a shopping list, Parrish.”“Fair enough. How do we know when we find it?”Ronan shrugged and headed towards the frozen food aisle.This is going to be a very long night, Adam thought.--or, the one where Adam and Ronan are at Dollar City at 4am because Cabeswater is kind of losing it.





	struck by lightning

**Author's Note:**

> when Gansey referred to the dollar store in Henrietta as "the Burgeoise Playground" I couldn't stop thinking about it and that spiraled into a few ideas for stories that involved Dollar City, so. more of this series to come, probably.

_The Dollar City in Henrietta was open for 24 hours, although no one was really sure why. It wasn’t often that someone needed a garden gnome or a bright orange hula hoop at three in the morning, but the store was open nonetheless. When it first opened, it got its share of drunk high schoolers and late night drifters, but the novelty soon wore off - for most people. Needless to say, Gansey and his band of king seekers weren’t exactly most people._

* * *

It was almost four in the morning and Adam couldn’t stop shaking. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to just collapse in his bed and sleep until next semester, but he couldn’t fall asleep. Magic was racing through his veins and making his head swim, and the raging thunderstorm overhead certainly didn’t help. The walls of his room at St. Agnes felt like they were closing in on him. Cabeswater needed to tell him something, but the message wasn’t getting through. It had never been like this before. Adam had tried using his tarot cards, but he still wasn’t getting anywhere. He was afraid to scry like this because he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to make it back to his body if he left.

Adam didn’t know what to do, and he couldn’t focus on anything long enough to figure it out. He paced the small space between his bed and the wall and tried to quiet the forest that was shouting in his head. _What do you want?_  Adam wanted to scream. It felt like every single cell in his body was crackling with energy.

Maybe he should just go to Cabeswater. Maybe it was something simple, like a rock interfering with the path of the ley line. The forest had never been this urgent about anything before, though. Adam could try to ignore it, but judging from previous experience with Cabeswater, it would just get worse. He glanced at the clock again. He still had to go to school in the morning, and he couldn’t do it like this.

Adam grabbed his jacket and shoved the deck of tarot cards in his pocket. He would just have to figure out what was wrong. He stepped out of the door and almost crashed right into Ronan. Adam stepped back and they looked at each other. Ronan didn’t look much different than he normally did, but he was twirling his car keys in his hand and couldn’t seem to stand still.

“Something’s screwy,” Ronan said.

“Agreed,” Adam replied.

They headed to Ronan’s car, which was still running in the parking lot of St. Agnes’s. Even without Ronan’s atrociously loud music playing, Adam’s head was still rushing. He considered asking why Ronan hadn’t brought Gansey along, but he thought better of it. This was just for them, the two closest to Cabeswater. Ronan and Adam, the dreamer and the magician. Adam leaned his head up against the window, trying to calm the thoughts racing through his mind as they headed for Cabeswater.

* * *

Ronan killed the engine and Adam reluctantly opened his eyes. But this wasn’t Cabeswater, this was…

“Dollar City?” Adam asked.

“It was in my dream,” Ronan replied, as if it were a sufficient answer. He got out of the car and Adam followed, briefly wondering what would happen if Ronan tried to bring an entire building out of his dreams.

They entered the store, instantly bombarded with glaring fluorescent lights and bright posters advertising A GREAT DEAL! BUY TWO AND GET ONE HALF OFF! Something about the building made it seem like they had entered another reality. The lone cashier simply glanced at them, barely acknowledging their existence, before looking back at his phone.

“Cabeswater needs something,” Ronan said, scanning the aisles.

“From here?”

“I think so.”

“I thought you said it was in your dream.”

“Yeah, but not exactly. It’s not like the trees gave me a shopping list, Parrish.”

“Fair enough. How do we know when we find it?”

Ronan shrugged and headed towards the frozen food aisle. _This is going to be a very long night_ , Adam thought.

* * *

“Hey, what about this?” Ronan held up a bright green nerf gun. The packaging looked like it had been attacked by either an overenthusiastic small child or a group of angry rats, or perhaps both.

“What would Cabeswater want with a nerf gun?” Adam asked. He rubbed his eyes. They had already spent nearly half an hour combing through the first few aisles and they hadn’t made any progress. Adam’s patience was about to snap.

“Couldn’t you just dream whatever Cabeswater needs?” Adam asked.

Ronan tossed the nerf gun back onto the shelf. “If I could dream it, then Cabeswater would already have it. Besides, I don’t know what it wants anyways.”

“Then why are we here?”

“I hoped we would know it when we saw it.”

Adam groaned. This was pointless. All he wanted was a good night’s sleep, for once in his life.

“Come on, Parrish, let’s just check the next aisle.” Ronan grabbed Adam’s wrist to pull him away.

Adam felt a sudden jolt of energy. He was seeing stars.

Ronan immediately pulled his hand back. By the impressive string of explicatives that Ronan hissed out, Adam guessed that he had felt it too.

“I felt like I just shoved my whole arm into an electrical socket. Jesus, Parrish, what was that?”

Adam glanced over at the cashier, who was eying them suspiciously after the outburst - he probably thought they were on drugs. Adam didn’t think that “a magical forest wants us to do its bidding” would make a very convincing excuse. He turned back to Ronan.

“I think I should scry,” Adam said.

Ronan didn’t say anything, so Adam headed towards the men’s restroom.

* * *

Somehow, the fluorescent lights were worse in here. They flickered in time with the cacophony of thunder overhead, causing Adam to wince over the headache that was steadily growing worse. Ronan was pacing, restless as ever. A sort of manic energy seemed to radiate off of him, similar to the way Cabeswater’s energy was buzzing under Adam’s skin. He glanced in the mirror and saw that his hair was slightly sticking up, as if someone had rubbed a balloon against it. Combined with the bags under his eyes and the way he was still slightly trembling, it wasn’t his best look.

Adam tried the tarot cards again, just to be sure. The magician. _Yes, that’s me._  Temperance. _Yes, I know you’re unbalanced._  The eight of wands. _I’m working as quickly as I can._  He sighed and shoved the deck back into his pocket.

Adam turned on the water and filled up one of the sinks, conscious of Ronan behind him, stealing glances in the mirror. He turned to face him.

“If I’m not done in ten minutes, do something. Bring me back.”

Ronan nodded, not even stopping his pacing. Adam turned back to the sink, awkwardly leaned over it, and stared at the bottom until the real world unraveled.

* * *

Scrying was never a particularly pleasant experience, but this time Adam was more acutely aware that he was separate from his body. The energy was stronger here. The trees were speaking to him in an urgent whisper, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

_What do you need?_  Adam shouted. The visions hit him like a punch to the throat. Bombs exploding over cities. Forest fires. Football stadiums filled with thousands of screaming fans. Ronan grabbing his hand, over and over and over again. Adam couldn’t make sense of it.

_ Tell me what you need! _

But Cabeswater didn’t (couldn’t?) listen. Visions of bombs and forest fires were replaced with memories of Ronan. The whispering of the trees grew louder, but now Adam could make sense of what they were saying.

_ Greywaren Greywaren Greywaren Greywaren _

Memories of Adam and Ronan bumping fists. Memories of them sitting next to each other on Adam’s pitifully small bed, knees touching. Memories of them doing things that Adam was sure hadn’t happened yet. But the memory of Ronan grabbing his arm in the aisle earlier showed up most of all.

_ What are you trying to tell me? _

Before the forest had a chance to respond, the energy around him surged and Adam was ripped from the visions. He felt his consciousness being unceremoniously shoved back into his body, like drowning in reverse. It felt like it had been barely a minute, let alone ten. After taking a few seconds to catch his breath, Adam opened his eyes and looked up into the mirror. Ronan had barely touched his index finger to Adam’s shoulder. 

“Nap time's over,” Ronan said, letting his arm drop to his side. “See anything useful in that dirty sink?” The loss of contact made Adam go dizzy, but it sparked a connection in his mind. He turned around.

Ronan looked impossibly casual, as if the version of Ronan Lynch who did magical rituals in the Dollar City restroom at four in the morning was no different from the one who raced cars and skipped school and pulled ravens from his dreams. Adam thought he saw the slightest bit of concern, but it vanished back into the beautiful paradox that was Ronan Lynch. He was restless, and he was still. Adam was staring, and Ronan was staring back. Thunder crashed in the background.

Adam stepped closer and held out his hand. Ronan raised an eyebrow, but cautiously reached his hand towards Adam’s. As soon as their fingers brushed together, Adam felt like he could taste the sun. Ronan tried to pull away again, but Adam held tightly to his hand.

“Wait,” he said. And sure enough, the energy around them seemed to balance out. Adam let out a sigh of relief. This was the most grounded he had felt all night.

“You’re telling me the trees want us to hold hands?” Ronan asked, but there was no venom to it. Adam shrugged, but he couldn’t stop the smile that was starting to tug at the corners of his lips.

“Whatever. Let’s just find it and get out of here,” Ronan grumbled, walking out of the restroom. Adam followed behind him, their fingers still intertwined.

If the cashier thought they were strange earlier, he didn’t say anything when Adam and Ronan walked out of the restroom, hand in hand, making a beeline for the party supplies aisle. They looked through a seasonally inappropriate collection of plastic jack o’ lanterns, ancient Valentine’s Day candy, and obnoxiously bright paper plates that read “Happy New Year 2010!”. Whatever it was they were looking for, it wasn’t in this aisle.

Now that the roar inside his head had subsided to a dull buzz, Adam could think again. He could think about how he was at Dollar City at 4:30 am instead of sleeping. He could think about how he was holding hands with Ronan Lynch. He could think about how his heart was beating too fast, but for entirely different reasons than it was before. There was something surreal in the atmosphere of flickering lights and empty aisles, casually bringing all of Adam’s feelings to the surface. He felt like he was in a dream, but that might just have been Ronan’s presence.

Ronan led them into the gardening aisle and Adam felt a surge of energy. They were close. From the way Ronan’s hand tightened in his, he knew that Ronan felt it too.

They started at the end of the shelf and worked their way down, touching every item and hoping for a sign that they had found something. They both reached for a hot pink watering can at the same time and Adam felt another jolt of energy as their fingers touched. That gave him an idea. He took Ronan’s other hand, and once the initial surge of energy settled out, he felt even more grounded than before. He looked at Ronan, the hard line of his jaw ever familiar, but there was uncertainty in his eyes.

Adam stepped closer.

Adam thought he could feel Ronan’s heartbeat. Slowly, tentatively, he reached out and put one arm around Ronan’s waist, then the other, drawing them closer. The frantic energy that had kept Adam from sleeping was gone, but he had never felt more awake in his life. Adam and Ronan, chest to chest in the Dollar City gardening aisle. Adam could feel Ronan’s breath on his face, soft and warm and unmistakably Ronan. Adam wanted to lean closer. He wanted to kiss him and slide his hands under the hem of Ronan’s shirt, but by the time Adam’s hands had the good sense to start moving Ronan was already halfway down the aisle.

“Got it!” He called. The sudden lack of Ronan in his arms was making Adam’s head spin. He looked up to see that Ronan was holding up a small, red pot with an even smaller red flower planted in it. The flower looked like it was at the end of its life: withered and faded, worsened by the aggressive red of the pot it was contained in. Adam could hear Cabeswater whispering in his ears: _Yes_ _._ This was what they had been looking for.

Adam was too preoccupied to make the slightest protest when Ronan paid for it. He needed Ronan again; it felt like there were ten thousand symphonies playing in his head, all at once. This was too much magic for a single magician.

Much to the relief of the Dollar City cashier, they left the store and got back in the BMW. Ronan handed Adam the withered plant and started to drive. Adam’s mind was hazy, but he felt restless. He was tired, but he needed to move. He compromised by resting his hand over Ronan’s on the gear shift. Ronan didn’t say anything, but Adam felt his hand relax under his.

* * *

The drive to Cabeswater seemed different in the dark. Maybe it was the ancient energy in the air or Ronan’s hand under his, but the trees that lined the road seemed alive. Adam felt like he was approaching the boundary between two planes of existence.

The energy seemed to grow stronger the closer they got to the edge of the forest. It was almost unbearable having to let go of Ronan in order to get out of the car, so Adam grabbed his hand again before walking into the forest. Adam wasn’t entirely sure of the protocol for the situation, so he set the plant on the ground in front of them.

“Hoc est, pro vobis,” Ronan said. For a moment, nothing happened, but then the flower began to bloom. The shriveled petals grew lush and vibrant, doubling in size in the blink of an eye. The cheap pot broke open and the plant dug its roots into the ground. Adam and Ronan watched, entranced, as they felt the energy around them dwindle, almost as if it was being channeled into the flower. They watched as the flower grew, stretching past the normal boundaries of plant growth and into the sky, then suddenly vanishing, as if it had never existed at all.

Adam and Ronan just stared, hand in hand, at the space where the flower had been just a moment before.

“Well, that was…” Adam began, but he couldn’t complete the thought. He had seen plenty of things that defied explanation, but this felt different, somehow.

“Yeah, it was,” Ronan agreed. They stood there in silence for a few more moments, and then Adam started to laugh. It was almost five in the morning, Adam had been awake for nearly 24 hours, he had just gone impulse shopping for a sentient forest, and he was laughing. And beautifully, Ronan laughed too.

They were sitting on the forest floor, fingers interlaced, laughing. Adam caught Ronan’s eyes, and he wasn’t quite sure what he saw in them, but he knew that something had changed. There was a new road stretching out in front of them, and Adam didn’t want to waste any time getting to the end.

Later they would tell the story to Gansey and Blue and the psychics at 300 Fox Way, and they would try to figure out why it happened. Adam would try to get some sleep, and they would both return to school in the morning, exhausted but sharing knowing glances of the night before. But that was all later. Right now they were in Cabeswater, and they were laughing, and everything had turned out alright.

Adam reached for Ronan’s other hand.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed Ronan's google translator Latin, lol. come talk to me about trc on tumblr @[sunbuckys](http://sunbuckys.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
